Czech National Bank Buys 9,722 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 160,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,722 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $5,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PPL. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 195.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of PPL by 139.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of PPL by 5,759.3% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter valued at $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PPL shares. Bank of America increased their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $32.09 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 91.96%.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.